


Without You

by Denois



Series: Tumblr Fics and Prompt Fills [34]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, M/M, Minor or background other characters, Miscommunication, Misunderstanding, Tumblr Fic, post 4.8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:14:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25082212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denois/pseuds/Denois
Summary: After Dex moves to the basement and builds a bungalow, both he and Nursey have trouble sleeping. Dex wants to check  on Nursey, but reaching out is hard when you don't know if it's wanted.
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter
Series: Tumblr Fics and Prompt Fills [34]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1693858
Comments: 6
Kudos: 84





	Without You

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't sleep and apparently the angst is stored in the sleepy brain.

Nursey stared into the darkness. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, maybe he’d slept some and didn’t remember. It didn’t feel like he had. He resisted the urge to check his phone for the time. The light would make it even harder to fall asleep. The light. Just the light. That’s what he was avoiding. He rolled over and stared into a different darkness.

* * *

Dex tried hugging a pillow. He bunched his comforter up beside him. He tossed. He turned. 

He considered texting Nursey. But that would require remembering that Nursey hadn’t texted him since the move to the basement. 

Something was wrong. Nursey would tell him when he was ready. 

Unless it was something he’d done. 

Dex lay in the darkness trying to remember what he might have done wrong.

* * *

“Damn Nursey, you look beat.” 

Ollie’s comment made Dex look over at Nursey. He did look tired. As tired as Dex felt.

Dex frowned, but it was time for practice and it wasn’t the place to check on Nursey anyway. So he waited. 

He waited all day. His hands itched for his phone, but it wasn’t the kind of thing to check by text. 

He waited until Nursey came down to the basement. He almost missed it because apparently Nursey was trying to be quiet. Still, he tripped and fell against the dryer and cursed under his breath. Which was enough, when Dex was listening for him. 

“Hey Nurse." 

"Dammit. Sorry, Dex. Just needed to run a load. I won’t bother you.” Nursey wasn’t looking at him. 

“Actually, can we talk?" 

Nursey’s hands slowed in transferring clothes into the machine before he finally nodded. "Yeah. Chill." 

He still wasn’t looking at Dex, but eventually he had the clothes in the machine and the machine started and he had to turn towards Dex. He followed Dex into the bungalow when Dex stepped back, then stood in the room with his arms crossed. 

"Is something wrong?”

“Everything’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be?” Nursey was back to avoiding looking at Dex. Or anything but his own feet. 

“Like, ok. I get if you need to handle things yourself. Or don’t want my input or whatever. But Ollie mentioned this morning that you look like you aren’t sleeping, so. I mean. I’m here, you know? If you need something?” Dex paused and licked his lips. “And if I did something to upset you, I’m sorry." 

Nursey snorted. "Chyeah. Well. It’s pretty much just the break up, and you can’t be the one there for me for that, so." 

Dex felt like his heart stopped beating, and then completely evacuated his chest. _The break up._ He’d spent all of his time outside of work and school and practice and games building the bungalow. Nursey needed time and attention. He knew that. But he hadn’t given it to him. Somehow, he missed them breaking up.

It was one thing to know it would happen, eventually. In an abstract sense. But for it to have happened without even knowing. To have continued like nothing had changed.

It took three tries before he managed to get his throat to work. "I didn’t know. I didn’t realize. I’ll, just-” He broke off. He wanted to flee, but they were in his bungalow already. Where could he go. 

“Are you crying?” Apparently Nursey finally decided to look at him. 

Because of course, Nursey had to see the tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. Of course, he couldn’t hold them in until Nursey was gone so that he wouldn’t be another burden. 

“I’ll be fine. I should have realized. I’m sorry I’ve been bothering you with texts and stuff. I’ll respect your decision.” Dex turned to face the chair in the reading nook. He’d been really proud of that chair. It wasn’t a wingback to start, but he’d adjusted the frame, added extra padding to the seat, arms and back, reupholstered it. It was going to be perfect for Nursey to read in. Now it wouldn’t get used. 

“Chyeah. Glad you can respect my decision to respect your decision, Dexy. Big of you." 

Dex turned his head just enough to look at Nursey incredulously. "My decision? I’m sorry that I didn’t realize you’d broken up with me, but calling it _my decision_?”

“Because you’re the one who broke up with me?“ 

Dex started shaking his head before the words were finished coming out of Nursey’s mouth. "That I would remember. I definitely didn’t do that.”

“You said you needed space and privacy and moved down here. And like, that’s chill. I can respect that. But then you were like not even willing to give me a tour, or anything. Like, we weren’t just on a break, we weren’t even friends.”

Dex narrowed his eyes at Nursey. He couldn’t be serious, right?

“ _We_ needed space.”

“Yeah, I remember how you broke up with me.”

“No, Nurse. _We needed space._ That room is too small for two people. The beds barely fit one of us, much less both of us. The joined bathroom meant people just wandered in whenever they wanted. _We_ needed space and privacy, together.”

Nursey stared at him for a moment. “What?”

“I wasn’t breaking up with you. Why would I do that? I was-” Dex broke off and gestured around the room. “I was trying to make us a place away from the rest of the guys where we could be comfortable.”

“You said no when I asked for a tour.”

“Tours are for visitors! Not people who live here.” He paused and gestured to the chair he’d looked at before before continuing in a quiet, rough voice. “Did you think the fancy chair in a reading nook was for me?”

Nursey stared at the chair like he was seeing it for the first time. “Oh. Sick.”

Dex took a step toward Nursey, then stopped. “Can I touch you?”

Just because he’d explained himself didn’t mean Nursey would want to be together again. Didn’t mean Nursey would welcome his touch.

He shouldn’t have worried, though. Nursey immediately closed the space and wrapped arms around his waist. Dex pulled him in tight, holding him like maybe he could push his still stuttering heart into Nursey’s chest and make Nursey understand how much he loved him and how much hated hurting him. Like, maybe if he just held on tight enough, he’d never have to let go. 

“You really meant this place to be for both of us?”

“Everything is for you. Everything.”

“You didn’t say.”

“I thought you knew. I thought…You weren’t responding to me. Maybe you were upset and didn’t want to talk about it. Or maybe you were upset with me and I needed to figure out what I did wrong so I could change.”

“You don’t want to be broken up?”

“Never.”

Nursey nodded slightly. “I need to process. Show me our bungalow?”

“Yeah. Well. I made you this chair. I added padding and support so you can read for hours. You’ve still got most of your books upstairs, but I pulled out the ones you’d boxed up for lack of space and put them on the shelves here. We can move the rest down…if you want.”

Nursey nodded, but stayed quiet as Dex showed him around the bungalow. The desks for their homework. The couch, and kitchenette. The shelves in the bathroom for Nursey’s skin and hair products. The bedroom. The king size bed.

Nursey fell asleep in Dex’s arms, laying on the bed. Their bed. It was probably exhaustion. Dex pressed a kiss to his skin.

It was the best sleep he’d gotten in weeks.

**Author's Note:**

> Posted first on Tumbls, you can yell at me there or here. [SexyDexyNurse](https://sexydexynurse.tumblr.com/)


End file.
